Partial characterization of the antigen recognized by a monoclonal antibody to Ascaris suum ovary extracts

A monoclonal antibody produced against ovary extracts from the worm Ascaris suum showed immunoreactivity against granules in the rachis and oocytes, the inner layer of the eggshell and the middle layer of some egg, but not against either ovary wall or uterus wall. Furthermore, the same antigens were detected on the body surface of migrated larva in guinea pig lung, whereas none were detected in adult male worm or adult female worm, except for the female reproductive organs. The ovary extracts were passed through an affinity column and the eluted fractions analyzed by SDS-PAGE, Western blotting and native-PAGE. Western blotting after SDS-PAGE detected chemiluminescence primarily as three bands of about 70, 78 and 90 kDa. However, Western blotting after native-PAGE of the partially purified ovary extracts demonstrated only one band at a position of about 230 kDa. LC-nanoESI-MS/MS analysis of protein band gel slices from silver-stained SDS-PAGE revealed one peptide sequence “ILVGLIGTNR”, that matched only the hypothetical protein F14D2.8 of Caenorhabditis elegans (gi/7499081).